ChetChase 2010 -- Culver's Tax Cut

I've been wondering in recent days whether the governor's race might have tightened up a little, as Democrats have been insisting. I almost let myself think this thing might get interesting.

Then Gov. Chet Culver popped his $120 million middle class tax cut Tuesday. And I knew instantly that he's still trailing by a mile.

Culver's plan to give tax credits to individuals earning up to $100,000 and couples making up to $200,000 smelled of Desperation No.5. And even if it was crafted with the best of policy intentions, the Culver camp had to know it would look like a late-game ploy.

Perhaps some voters will be smitten by the prospect of $90 or $180 bucks. We could all use the scratch. But when your chief weakness in the mind of many voters is that you too often pick political expediency over clear-eyed competence, hastily tossing out a surprise tax cut, when the state's budget situation remains dicey, may not be the best idea.

And the budget is not fixed. The revenue "surplus" the state had left at the end of the last fiscal year, thanks to a 10 percent across-the-board budget cut and a slowly recovering economy, is going to be needed to plug a significant shortfall in next year's budget. Medicaid is underfunded. Culver has promised to boost education spending. Funding needs are still projected to outpace incoming tax collections.

The budget picture, and the economy, remain uncertain. So, essentially, Culver is proposing a tax cut without being sure that the state can pay its bills. This is the sort of thing Democrats knock Republicans for doing.

Culver is trying use his middle class cut to underscore the point that Branstad wants to cut corporate taxes. Now they both have an economically dubious tax cut plan the state can't afford. Swell.

I don't understand why Culver's camp did this at a moment when they appeared to be gaining traction on the budget issue.

Branstad just made the very odd decision to turn his fairly simple promise to cut government by 15 percent into a minefield of complicated, squishy backtracks and qualifiers. It was a rare misstep that Culver could have capitalized on, along with improving budget numbers.

Instead, Culver changes the subject back to whether he really understands the budget picture.

Or maybe you think it's brilliant strategy and I'm a wet sock. Weigh in below.